


Tales of Domestic Bros For Life

by parasolghost



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Future Fic, Multi, Roommates, basically my excuse to write a captain roommates sitcom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-24
Updated: 2016-08-11
Packaged: 2018-03-08 20:13:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3221927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parasolghost/pseuds/parasolghost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a three-bedroom apartment on the third floor of a building in Tokyo, four college students learn that living together may have been simultaneously the worst and best decision of their lives. A series of glorious, sort-of connected stories staring "romantically challenged" Sawamura Daichi, "Internet-famous beauty guru" Oikawa Tooru, "Mr. Polyglamorous" Kuroo Tetsurou, and "wanna see me burn instant ramen" Bokuto Koutarou.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome to Apartment 314

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New roommates can be either the worst or the best.

Oikawa knew being college-bound was going to be a hassle. All of that time put into practicing for the spring interhigh was finally catching up to him and, although he would never regret it, the consequences were rather daunting. When the tournament was over and done, Oikawa barely had time to reflect as he found himself juggling approaching finals, entrance exams, and scouts from all over Japan all at once. Before he knew it, he found himself accepting a scouting request from a university in Tokyo and the new school year began faster than he could keep up with the changes in life. However, he had made it through everything, for the most part—things normally had a way of working themselves out in time for him in the end, so he let his guard down for a second before a horrible realization dawned on him.

Oikawa Tooru had nowhere to live.

In all honesty, this should have been his very _first_ concern, but Oikawa was a busy guy—he had other things to worry about and housing had just totally slipped his mind. He considered commuting, but the cost of gas expenses and time spent driving were too much. Studio apartments all over Tokyo were all filled and it was too late to look into dorms. By the time Oikawa had looked into every possible option, it was already two weeks before the school year began and he had absolutely nothing.

However, Oikawa found his salvation and shining beacons of angelic light in the form of the former Karasuno volleyball club captain when he bumped into him while getting coffee. As it turned out, Sawamura Daichi was going to the same university and was looking for another roommate to help out with the rent and, without much prior thought, Oikawa jumped on the opportunity. It didn't occur to him until later that he didn’t actually know that much about Sawamura or his roommates at all.

Nevertheless, after a week and thirty minutes of driving around absolutely lost in Tokyo in a rental car, Oikawa finally found himself standing in front of apartment 314 with his suitcases in tow behind him and his phone pressed against his ear.

“Iwa-chan,” he said gravely into the phone. “If you don’t hear from me in the next hour, I’m probably dead. Sawamura might be responsible. That’s Sa-wa-mu—“

“Calm down, Oikawa, you’re not gonna die,” Iwaizumi interrupted.

“You don’t _know_ that—I am a vulnerable and pure soul and easily taken advantage of—“

“That is _literally_ the most bullshit I have ever heard come from your mouth in my life—“

“I am a _pure_ soul, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa insisted. He stared at the doorknob and sighed, his keys still clutched in his hands. “Why couldn’t I just go to college in Miyagi with you?” he mumbled.

There is silence on the other end for a second before Iwaizumi spoke again. “You’re going to one of the best universities in Japan, Oikawa—you can’t just stay in Miyagi forever.”

“But I miss you,” Oikawa said, his voice heavy. “It’s going to be weird going without you for four years.”

“Yeah,” Iwaizumi said after a long while, his voice cracking just the tiniest bit. “I know.”

“Aw, Iwa-chan, are you crying?” Oikawa teased.

“Hell no,” Iwaizumi answered so briskly that Oikawa could practically see Iwaizumi's deadpanned look.

“It’s okay to be honest with yourself once in a while,” Oikawa teased.

“Shut up, Asskawa,” Iwaizumi said. Oikawa heard a loud noise coming from Iwaizumi’s end and Iwaizumi saying something he couldn’t really discern before the other boy returned to the phone. “Hey, I gotta go now, alright?” he said. There’s a slight pause before Iwaizumi continues. “If I have time, I’ll come and visit you next week, so don’t do anything stupid.”

Oikawa’s eyes grew wide. “Wait, really?” Oikawa asked, a grin curling on his lips.

“ _If_ I have time,” Iwaizumi repeated even though both of them know Iwaizumi would _make_ time to get to Tokyo. “Later, Oikawa.”

“Bye, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa replied. “Don’t fall in love with anyone else while I’m gone, okay? Although, I mean, how could you, considering—“

“ _Bye, Oikawa_ ,” Iwaizumi interrupted before there’s a click and the sound of a dead tone ringing through Oikawa’s phone.

Oikawa shoved his phone back in his pocket, feeling much more elated than before. If Iwaizumi was going to visit, he was going to have to make his room _perfect_ or at least perfect enough for Iwaizumi not to make fun of him for it. Besides, he _probably_ wasn’t going to die. Sawamura seemed like a pretty reasonable guy—what could possibly go wrong?

Oikawa fumbled with the keys for a moment before he finally unlocked the door and turned the knob, taking a deep breath before throwing it open.

Before he could even take a look at the living room, Oikawa’s gut was immediately greeted by a large styrofoam projectile that was fast enough to knock the air out of him. Oikawa keeled over, clutching his stomach before he heard someone speak.

“Shit, you aren’t Sawamura,” the voice said as another started bursting into raucous laughter. When Oikawa looked up, still clutching his stomach, he saw two young men holding the largest Nerf guns he had ever seen. One of them, a stocky boy with black hair streaked white that Oikawa recognized from playing volleyball, was looking at him sheepishly, trying to hide the gun behind his back like a guilty child, while the other, a slightly taller boy with unruly black hair, was trying to hide his laughter behind his hand.

“Sorry, dude I thought—“ the guy with streaked hair began, scratching the back of his head. “I thought you might’ve been Sawamura and, see, we’ve been waiting here for like two hours for him to get here—“

“ _Oh,_ hold up,” the black-haired man interrupted the other by hitting him in the stomach with his Nerf gun. “Aren’t you that pretty boy setter from Aoba Jousai—Oikawa something?”

As the pain began to fade, Oikawa tried to give them a smile that probably turned out to be more of a grimace, unsure of what to think of the fact that his reputation as (undeniably) gorgeous preceeded the knowledge of his given name. “Yeah, that’s me,” Oikawa answered.

“Awesome, Sawamura said he’d find us a new roomie—glad to see he doesn’t disappoint,” the black-haired man shoots him a smile that looks more like a smirk. “Welcome to the man-cave, Oikawa—“

“‘The man cave’?” Oikawa repeated with a raised eyebrow. The other two ignored his look of disbelief.

“I’m Kuroo Tetsurou—film major and the guy who got us this humble abode,” the black-haired young man said with a grin that looked more like a smirk, he gestures to the shorter man with his gun. “This is Bokuto—he’s the one who shot you.”

“ _Dude_ , you can’t just out me like that,” Bokuto objected, as if his guilty gait was not obvious enough. Bokuto shot Oikawa a bright smile and grabbed his hand to shake it, startling the setter in the process. “Bokuto Koutarou—child psych major and one of the top four aces in Japan!”

“O-oikawa Tooru—art major and setter,” Oikawa stammered as Bokuto shook his hand with such excited vigor that he almost lost his balance.

“Oh! Are you playing for the university?” Bokuto asked.

“Yeah, I was scouted, so—“

“Hey, me too!” Bokuto said, his eyes growing wide. He gives Oikawa a hard thump on the shoulder. “I guess you’ll be setting to me from now on!”

Before Oikawa could reply, Kuroo tossed his nerf gun at him with a grin as Oikawa fumbled with the toy. “You came just in time, Oikawa—Sawamura’s gonna be here any minute now and we were low on ambush power.” Kuroo hopped over to the couch to pull out another gun from behind it. “Get your stuff out of the hallway and you can join the force.”

Oikawa stared at them blankly for a second before realization dawned on him. “Oh—wait, no I don’t think I—“

“C’mon, Oikawa, it’ll be fun!” Bokuto said, giving Oikawa a hard whack on the back. “Have you ever seen Sawamura mad?”

“I don’t think I want to,” Oikawa said.

“Well, you’d be missing out because it’s _hilarious_ ,” Kuroo said as he loaded his gun with bullets.

“Yeah, his veins get all big and pulse-y and his eyebrows combine into this v-shaped unibrow like a hairy black caterpillar,” Bokuto added.

Kuroo gave a dreamy sigh. “It’s kind of magical.”

Oikawa bit his lip. As magical as he was sure Sawamura’s anger would have been, he wasn’t ready to get on his roommate’s bad side just yet. “Sorry, guys, I don’t think I want to get on his wrong side right—“

“Who’s wrong side?”

Bokuto gave a yelp from behind Oikawa and Kuroo’s eyes went wide with fear and, before he knew what was happening, Oikawa found himself screaming as well as he whipped around and fired at whatever was behind him, his eyes closed tight.

The person behind Oikawa fell to their knees and Oikawa slowly pried his eyes open.

“Oh, _shit_ ,” Kuroo said as Oikawa’s jaw fell open. At his feet, Sawamura Daichi himself stood with his arms clutched over his stomach, giving Oikawa the sternest glare he had ever seen on an 18-year-old young man.

 “Well, it was nice meeting you, Oikawa,” Kuroo said from behind him.

“Yeah, see you later, maybe,” Bokuto added. Their guns clattered to the ground behind him before Oikawa heard the sound of footsteps sprinting behind him and a door slamming closed.

Oikawa gave Sawamura what he hoped was his most charming smile, but was probably more of a grimace. The silence was unbearable and the look that Sawamura gave him made Oikawa feel like he was about to be grounded for a month with no phone.

“H-hey, Sawamura-kun,” Oikawa finally began. “So, uh, you’re looking great, uh—“

For someone who was probably the shortest out of the four roommates, Sawamura Daichi really had a way of making himself seem bigger, Oikawa discovered. His eyes went dark and his brows furrowed together, not quite like the caterpillar unibrow that Bokuto described, but still in a way that was both kind of impressive and very terrifying as Daichi seemed to age twenty years in one stern look.

“Kuroo and Bokuto started it!” Oikawa blurted out childishly.

“ _Traitor!_ ”

* * *

 

By day three, Oikawa finally found himself somewhat adjusted. After that incident, Sawamura had begun set up the first of the apartment’s several ground rules: Kuroo and Bokuto were not allowed to use their nerf guns in the apartment because they were probably going to hurt someone or break something. Afterwards, Oikawa settled into his own bedroom while Daichi had another and Bokuto and Kuroo were to share the master bedroom, which they apparently didn’t mind at all.

Oikawa was being cautious for now, but he found himself getting along with his roommates somewhat. Sawamura was a pretty agreeable guy, even though Oikawa thought someone should do something about the stick that was probably up his ass 60% of the time; Kuroo seemed like a pretty fun person to talk to in general, although his apparent distaste for E.T. was kind of deplorable; and Bokuto was, well, just a bit exhausting to be hanging out with for more than an hour at a time, but generally pretty cool.

However, there was a just a tiny problem—Kuroo and Bokuto were dating.

Of course, the fact that they were dating was not the _actual_ problem, and technically they had never actually _said_ they were dating and Oikawa’s hunch could be very off (which was unlikely). However, after three nights of residing in the room next to them, the setter could no longer take it.

Oikawa shuffled out of his bedroom, his blanket wrapped around his shoulders like a cape, grumbling as he walked away from the sounds of loud moaning and a bed frame slamming against a wall, his hand tracing the walls in the dark, too tired and irritated to turn on the lights. He was sure the couch was here _somewhere,_ Oikawa supposed as his foot hits a box lying on the floor. It had only been the third night, so he couldn't _really_ be blamed if he knocked something over (he thought as he bumped into a wall nose-first, sure that that was supposed to be the hallway exit), but either way Oikawa eventually found (or, rather, banged his knee) on the back of the couch, away from Kuroo and Bokuto's room and the sounds of their absolutely and unnecessarily loud sex.

With a relieved sigh and his blanket draped around his shoulders like a cape, Oikawa hopped over the back of the couch only for his knee to land on something that felt less like a couch cushion and more like someone's stomach. The figure lurched forward with a scream and, before Oikawa could apologize, knocked his head into Oikawa nose so hard that the setter fell off the couch, nearly hitting his head on the coffee table as a metallic taste begins to fill his mouth.

"O-oikawa?" Sawamura asked weakly. "Holy shit, are you okay?"

"Uh, I think my nose is bleeding and you may have destroyed my knee with your abs," Oikawa answered, his voice nasally as he reaches up to pinch his nose. "Are _you_ okay?"

"I think you may have kneed a hole into my gut, but no big deal," Sawamura said. "So, you too?"

"What?"

"Can't sleep because of..." Sawamura's voice trailed off and Oikawa sighed.

"Because Bokuto and Kuroo's loud banging? Yeah," Oikawa confirmed.

Sawamura sighed heavily and a blanket is thrown over Oikawa's face. "Alright, that's it, we need to talk to them."

"Right now?" Oikawa asked, throwing the blankets off of him as Sawamura handed him a box of tissues. He plugged up his bleeding nostril with a tissue and stood up, following Sawamura down the dark hallway.

"Yeah, right now," Sawamura said, reaching up to give Bokuto and Kuroo's door a firm knock. By then, the sounds had stopped, but light was streaming from the bottom of the door so they had to be awake.

The door swung open and Oikawa got an eyeful of Kuroo Tetsurou abdominal muscles that he always knew that Kuroo probably had but never really wanted to confirm. Kuroo looked a bit sluggish, his normally erect hair is unusually flaccid and his forehead is damp with sweat. “Guys, it’s like 3AM—shouldn’t you be asleep?”

Oikawa blinked in disbelief while Sawamura giving the black-haired young man a deadpanned look. “Well, I mean,” Oikawa began carefully, “we can’t exactly—“

“You both need to chill,” Sawamura interrupted Oikawa, his arms crossed. “There is no way we can sleep if you guys are going to have loud sex every single night.”

Kuroo gave them a dramatic yawn, stretching his arms and his hand reaching for the door. "Do we really have to talk about this right now, it's--"

"Three in the morning, yes we're aware," Sawamura said, blocking the door with his foot, "which is exactly why we have to talk about this right now."

Kuroo sighed, but shrugged nonetheless. "Alright, Dad, just hold up," Kuroo teased, turning around. "Bokuto, get up!" Oikawa peeked past Kuroo to see a lump under their blankets that only gave Kuroo a whine in reply. "C'mon, dude this is your fault anyway," Kuroo said, sauntering over to the bed to prod the lump with a finger.

"Today would be nice," Oikawa said.

Eventually Kuroo managed to get a very drowsy looking Bokuto on his feet, a quilt draped over his shoulders and wrapped around his body, and his hair oddly flat against his head. "Morning," Bokuto said through a yawn, raising an angled brow at Oikawa. "Dude, what happened to your nose?"

"Sawamura-kun head butted my face," Oikawa shrugged, unplugging his nostrils once he noticed that the bleeding had stopped.

"Well, hey you kneed me in the stomach, so we're even," Sawamura countered.

"Well, apparently your abs are made of steel or something so it doesn't really _feel_ even," Oikawa muttered.

Kuroo gave a solemn nod. "Your abs are pretty solid actually," he agreed.

"Rock solid," Bokuto added, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

Sawamura's cheeks suddenly flushed a shade of pink and his arms clutched his stomach protectively. "L-look we're not here to talk about my abs--"

"We're not?" Bokuto said, blinking owlishly as if he were genuinely surprised.

"No, actually we're here to talk about how you guys really need to keep it down this late at night," Sawamura said sternly.

Bokuto's expression suddenly turned guilty and the corner of Kuroo's mouth twitched. "It's Bokuto's fault," he said simply as Bokuto frowned at his betrayal. "I told him to keep it down, but--"

"Hey! I can't help it," Bokuto defended himself. "Especially if you keep--"

"Gross, Bokuto, please don't," Oikawa interrupted before the other boy could go into too much detail.

"I really don't care what you guys are doing, can't you just try to keep quiet when some of us are asleep?" Sawamura asked, massaging his forehead.

Bokuto pouted, pulling his quilt closer to his body. "That's pretty difficult when you sleep at ten like an old man," Bokuto said.

Oikawa covered his mouth to stop his chuckling and Kuroo turned away, his lips pursed tightly to keep them from smiling. Oikawa swore he saw a vein in Sawamura's head pulse.

"I don't--"

"You kinda do," Oikawa agreed.

"At least I don't hog the bathroom for two hours every morning to do my hair," Sawamura said, glaring at Oikawa.

Oikawa's jaw dropped as Bokuto and Kuroo broke out into giggles. He shot them a glare. "Shut up, you and your terrible bed head have no right to laugh, _Kuroo-chan_."

That shut Kuroo up for sure while Bokuto only laughed even harder and Oikawa found himself grinning triumphantly. Kuroo opened his mouth to object when Sawamura stepped between them.

"Quit it, guys--we just moved in, let's save the brawls for something actually important," he said, glaring at Bokuto, who was still laughing.

"Bokuto started it," Kuroo mumbled

Bokuto stopped his laughter to give Kuroo a hurt look. "Brotrayed by the bae again."

"Bokuto, Kuroo--keep it down somehow," Sawamura said. "Get a muzzle or something--I don't care how, just do it."

Kuroo let out a low whistle. "Oh, actually--"

"Nope, shut up--just do it," Sawamura interrupted.

"Aye aye, Cap'n," Kuroo said with a mock salute.

"And Oikawa," Sawamura began, turning to the setter with a stern look.

Oikawa blinked. "Me?"

"Yeah, get out of the bathroom faster--we only have one and you're not the only one who has to use it--no 'buts'," Sawamura added quickly when Oikawa opened his mouth to argue.

Oikawa pursed his lips and folded his arms together. "Fine."

The four of them stood in silence for a second, Oikawa sulking at the situation turning on him--after all, it wasn't _his_ fault that it took a lot of work to look this good.

"So," Bokuto finally said, "now what?"

"Uh, I was just going to go to sleep," Oikawa shrugged.

"I'm not really all that tired anymore, so I think I'm just gonna watch a movie," Sawamura said.

Bokuto and Kuroo automatically perked up. "Like a movie night?" Kuroo asked.

"Uh, wait, I--"

"Movie night!" Bokuto cheered, throwing up his fists and opening his quilt-cape to flash the group in all his glory. Oikawa shielded his eyes and Sawamura looked away warily. "Can we watch a musical?"

"I don't--"

"I have _Enchanted_ on Blu-ray," Kuroo suggested.

"Wait--"

"If Bokuto puts on some pants, we can share my popcorn," Oikawa offered as Bokuto wrapped his quilt around himself again.

"Deal," Bokuto agreed.

"Guys--" Sawamura's voice was drowned out by Bokuto and Kuroo passionately chanting _"Movie night!"_ and he frowned. " _Hey!_ " Sawamura raised his voice over their cheers and they all looked at him. Sawamura opened his mouth, his brows furrowed as if he was debating internally, before letting out a sigh. "I call the middle couch cushion."

Bokuto whooped and Kuroo gave Sawamura a hard thump on the back. Despite his eye rolling, a smile curled on Sawamura's lips. Oikawa found himself smiling as well until Bokuto stepped forward to join them. Oikawa whipped his arm out, blocking Bokuto's path. "Pants," he reminded him.

Bokuto looked down at his bare leg sticking out from his quilt and turned back. "Right!"

* * *

 

On day five, Oikawa found himself particularly busy. He had his first volleyball practice of the school year, which took up a good portion of the day despite the fact that it was just the coach going over the training regimen to scare of weak players and upperclassmen jeering at the first-years. Afterwards, he went to buy textbooks and supplies, and mourning the weight of his wallet and emptiness of his bank account, before heading off to visit some relatives in Tokyo that absolutely insisted that he stop by for "just five minutes" that ended up being two hours.

So when Oikawa returned to the apartment, hungry and weary, it took him a while to register Sawamura and Kuroo wrestling on the living room floor, Kuroo facing down and Sawamura sitting on the taller boy's ass.

When he closed the door behind him, the other two boys looked up in the middle of Sawamura's hand pressing Kuroo's face into the carpet.

"Do we have a rule about keeping intimacy in the bedroom yet?" Oikawa asked.

"We're fighting," Sawamura explained.

"Again? I thought you said we were gonna save that for something important."

Kuroo lifted his head from the carpet. "This is important--Sawamura's trying to cheat me out of my donut."

" _My_ donut," Sawamura corrected him.

Oikawa looked over to the coffee table, where a pink box once filled with donuts sat, empty aside from one glazed donut sitting in the corner. Bokuto had brought home a box of two-dozen donuts yesterday and told them that it was for everyone (around the same time, Bokuto had also become Oikawa's favorite roommate) and they inhaled the pastries like their lives depended on it. However, apparently, it seemed like someone (Oikawa) had cheated and taken more donuts than they were rationed (it was Oikawa).

"Why don't you guys just split it?" Oikawa asked.

Kuroo scoffed, "I'm a grown man, Oikawa--"

"Debatable," Sawamura muttered.

"--I need at least one full donut to satisfy me," Kuroo continued, ignoring Sawamura's jab.

"So, what, you're going to roll on the floor until one of you kills the other?" Oikawa asked.

Kuroo and Sawamura look at each other before looking at back at Oikawa, nodding. "Essentially, yeah," Sawamura shrugged.

"Why don't you guys settle this more definitely?"

"Y'mean like with a fist fight?" Kuroo asked.

"No, I mean, with arm wrestling," Oikawa suggested. The other two boys quirked their brows at him and Oikawa shrugged. "That's how we settled things in Seijou."

"I thought your ace was undefeated," Sawamura said.

"That's not important--what matters is that it worked and I _let_ Iwa-chan win," Oikawa said quickly. "Besides, it's faster than you guys knocking over furniture and draining our deposit for a donut." Oikawa lifted the pink box off of the coffee table and gave the surface of the table a light pat with his free hand. "You guys can even do it right here."

Sawamura got off of Kuroo and Kuroo rolled towards the coffee table, sitting up to face Sawamura, who sat on the other side. Their elbows sat firm on the surface and their hands clasped together. Oikawa could almost see the intent to kill in their eyes.

"Alright, ready?" Oikawa asked. "And... _go!"_

The battle began and Kuroo and Sawamura's fists tightened, their brows furrowed in great concentration and intensity. Their teeth were grit as sweat beaded down their faces, which were red as neither refused to budge. Their fists tipped back and forth relentlessly as the boys arm-wrestled as if their lives depended on it. The veins on the back of their hands bulged and their free hands' fingers gripped at the surface of the table in their brawl. The tension was so thick, someone could probably cut a knife through it.

Oikawa, on the other hand, was standing by them, observing their match with one hand on his hip and a box with one very delicious-glazed donut in the other--and he was hungry.

"No pinching, Kuroo-chan," Oikawa said as he reached into the box.

"I'm not!" Kuroo said, not taking his eyes off of their fists.

"Your nails are digging into my skin--that's cheating," Sawamura argued through his teeth, pushing Kuroo's hand back.

"I have long nails, alright? I can't help it," Kuroo defended himself. "Besides, your elbow is moving all over the place!"

"Yeah, Sawamura-kun, no cheating," Oikawa chimed in as he finished half the donut.

"My elbow has been in the same place the whole time," Sawamura argued.

Their hands were locked right where they started and Oikawa was licking his fingers of the donut's sugary residue. This match was lasting a lot longer than he thought it would and he kind of had stuff to do, places to be.

Oikawa closed the donut box. "Okay, this is clearly getting you guys nowhere," he said. "I still say you two should just do yourselves a favor and split whatever's left."

"You were the one who told us to settle this with arm wrestling," Kuroo said, looking up at Oikawa with a raised brow. However, the grip he and Sawamura had on each other loosened.

"And you know what, you guys proved that you guys are perfectly matched in strength so there are no losers in this apartment," Oikawa said. "Except maybe Sawamura a little because he sleeps at ten."

"Hey--"

Oikawa set the box on the table besides the other boy's arms and put his hands on their shoulders. "Enough arguing--there will be other donuts, but you guys are like brothers now."

"We're what?"

"Celebrate your newly found brotherhood and share," Oikawa continued, giving them some very dramatic pats, leaving them dumbfounded. "I'm proud of you guys." Oikawa gave them a meaningful look before heading off, feeling their confused stares on his back as he retreated into the hallway.

No later than two seconds after Oikawa closes his bedroom door, he heard Sawamura's voice reverberate through the apartment with the intensity of a thousand horns.

 _"Oikawa!_ "

They added a new rule to their growing list of apartment regulations that day: anyone (Oikawa) who was caught eating more than their ration of communal donuts was to be banned from their stash until they (Oikawa) had learned their lesson.

It was kind of worth it.

* * *

Day seven landed on a Friday and, if Oikawa were to reflect on his week, he would have found that his living situation was pretty nice. He got along with his roommates pretty well, even if they did argue a bit and some of them had some really weird habits, but generally, he enjoyed their presences. He had been excited to talk to Iwaizumi all about Tokyo all week and had been eagerly awaiting his visit.

Oikawa should clean-boxes were still littered all over his room and his laundry basket was overflowing with clothes. He should be thinking about what to wear tomorrow or where he should take Iwaizumi out for dinner.

Yet, Oikawa was lying on his back on his bed, his eyes blank and his fingers mindlessly setting a volleyball towards the ceiling. There was no hint of the excitement that he felt this morning in his current state. In fact, all he felt was bitterness.

He had known that college volleyball was a whole other level of mastery--in fact, he was hyper aware of it, which is why he worked his ass off over the summer to make sure he was could stand on the same level as everyone. However, despite all of his carefully honed and even obviously greater skill, he found himself on clean-up duty along with all of the other freshmen. The seniors on the team ignoring him, yelling at them that they missed a spot. Bokuto was by him the whole time, his wide eyes following the motion of the volleyball on the court, with a mop handle gripped so tightly in his hands that it broke with a snap that echoed throughout the gym. Before he knew it, Oikawa and Bokuto found themselves arguing with some of their seniors before they were told that maybe they should leave for the day to sort out their emotions. Oikawa left the gym with a bitter taste in his mouth and neither Bokuto nor Oikawa spoke to each other the entire way back to their apartment.

It had been about two hours now since Oikawa had closed his bedroom door with a frustrated slam and collapsed in his bed. There was a knock on the door that Oikawa did not reply to before the door creaked open and Bokuto peaked in.

"Hey, Oikawa."

The ball landed in Oikawa's hands and he looks over at Bokuto, not turning his head away from the ball. "What's the point of knocking if you're just going to come in anyway?" the setter asked coldly.

Bokuto only shrugged. "I dunno, I just wanted to ask if you wanted to watch a movie with us."

Oikawa sighed, looking back at the ceiling. "Not today, Bokuto-kun. Sorry."

Bokuto left the room with a dejected look on his face and Oikawa felt a little guilty, but he was too tired to deal with it. Not even half an hour later, the door opened again and Sawamura stepped in.

"Hey, we're going to go on a fast food run," Sawamura said, his voice softer than Oikawa was used to. "Do you want anything?"

"No, I'm not really hungry," Oikawa mumbled. His stomach decided to betray him right at that moment and began growling.

Sawamura raised an eyebrow. "Are you--"

"I'm sure," Oikawa interrupted briskly, turning away from the door.

There is a moment of silence before he heard Sawamura sigh behind him and the door closes behind him quietly.

Oikawa doesn't even realize he had fallen asleep until a bright light finds its way past his eyelids and the door swings open with a bang.

"Oikawa, this is an intervention," Kuroo's voice said, rousing him from his dazed, post-nap state.

Oikawa sat up, squinting at the door to see Kuroo standing with his arms crossed in his doorway, Bokuto and Sawamura behind him. "Wh-wha?"

"You heard me," Kuroo said. "You haven't eaten since--" Kuroo paused and looked toward Bokuto.

"Before morning practice!" Bokuto chirped.

"Before morning practice?" Kuroo repeated, looking at Oikawa with wide eyes. "Shit, we need to get some food in you."

"I don't want any," Oikawa said stubbornly.

"And we're going to watch a goddamn happy movie--moping is getting you nowhere," Kuroo continued, ignoring Oikawa's protest. "How the hell are you going to have your goddamn boyfriend over if you're gonna be like this all weekend?"

Oikawa glared at them, unable to think of a retort, before turning on his side, away from them. "Go away."

"We're not leaving until you agree to movie night and an actual meal," Sawamura joined in.

"I don't want to."

"Too bad, you're joining us for movie night," Kuroo insisted.

Oikawa scoffed. "Make me." There was a pause and a shuffling of feet by Oikawa's bed and, before he could register what it meant, a blanket was thrown over his head and wrapped around him. "Hey!" Oikawa protested.

"Bokuto, you get the legs and I'll get his head," Kuroo said as Oikawa felt himself being lifted up. "Sawamura, you lead the way."

Oikawa began moving his arms. "What are you--"

"Stop thrashing around, Oikawa, we might drop you," Kuroo warned as Oikawa begins to feel himself being moved out of his room.

His head lightly hits the door on the way out and Oikawa lets out a loud ow mostly out of shock than out of genuine pain.

"Whoops, sorry," Kuroo said.

"No, you're not," Oikawa said, pouting despite the fact that no one could see his face.

"Heh, yeah, I'm not," Kuroo snickered.

Oikawa was thrown unceremoniously onto the couch before he could get himself out of the blanket. When he finally navigated his way out, Sawamura dumped a plastic bag on his lap.

"We have a burger for you when you actually get hungry," Sawamura said as Oikawa have him a confused look, "but I thought this might actually help you feel better."

Oikawa opened the bag and was automatically touched by the sight of milk bread. He looked up at Sawamura with wide eyes. "How did you know?"

"Iwaizumi mentioned they were your favorite."

"Since when were you in contact with Iwa-chan?"

"Since he and Suga became roommates," Sawamura said. Oikawa moved his feet so the other boy could sit down. "He's pretty worried about you--Suga kept asking me about you for him so often that I thought he had a crush on you for a bit."

Oikawa couldn't help but crack a small smile at that. "Aw, Iwa-chan," Oikawa hummed to no one in particular. "Don't worry, Sawamura-kun, Iwa-chan's the only guy for me anyway."

"Why would I be worried?" Sawamura scoffed just as Bokuto shut off the living room lights, but in the glow of the TV, Oikawa could see Sawamura's ears tinted red.

"Alright, bros, you guys ready?" Bokuto asked, sitting on the couch so that his legs are draped across Oikawa's thighs.

"Since when were we bros?" Oikawa scoffed with no real malice behind his tone.

"You said it yourself on Wednesday," Kuroo said, lifting Oikawa's head so he could take his spot, letting Oikawa rest his head on his lap.

"I said it so I could shall a donut."

"Yeah, but it's kinda true now," Kuroo shrugged.

"Us volleydudes gotta stick together," Bokuto chimed in with such genuine enthusiasm that Oikawa couldn't help but chuckle.

"Thanks," Oikawa smiled as the movie began.

"Don't mention it," Kuroo smirked, rubbing Oikawa's head. "Just but us a new thing of donuts and we can call it even."

They fell silent as the movie played and Oikawa wasn't really too sure what they were watching, but he felt warm and comforted in their silence in a huge puppy pile on the couch. The sounds of the movie were soon muffled by the sounds of Sawamura, the old man that he was internally, snoring through the movie. Kuroo slapped a hand over Bokuto's mouth before he could whine and wake him up. Oikawa let out a quiet chuckle as his eyelids feel heavy and Kuroo's leg suddenly feels less like a leg and more like a pillow and, before he knew it, Oikawa's eyes are closed and he feels a bit lighter.

Things were going to be all right here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh so?? This is a thing that exists now... Basically, I couldn't stop thinking about captain roommates and them being cute friends so I just indulged myself??? I was about to make this a huge captain orgy. but the iwaoi and daisuga in me is just way too strong... plus I'll never pass up an opportunity for bokukuroakaken (which will show up later!) OTL
> 
> Anyway!! I hope you guys liked this! I mean it was so self-indulgent that I'm really not sure if anyone would care?? But it was really fun to write, so thanks for reading this far! I hope you'll stick around!


	2. Matchmaking in Threes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roommates are horrible wingmen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, sorry this took so long to update?? I've been bogged down with college and general writer's block and stuff, so it was kind of hard for me to finish/find the motivation to finish. But I honestly love captains so much, so at least I got it done!! No promises on when the next chapter will come out, but hopefully soon! (And it is definitely happening jsyk)
> 
> Also, this chapter is really daisuga heavy because I'm always a slut for daisuga.
> 
> Thanks for sticking with me and I hope you guys like this chapter!!

 Sawamura Daichi was a force to be reckoned with. He was 18 years old and constantly at the peak of his health. He had a stern gaze that harnessed enough power to strike fear into the hearts of anyone who had the misfortune of being the object of his wrath. He was muscular and toned with broad shoulders and could probably bench press his roommates (something that they have constantly debated but have never really wanted to try out). He was feared by some and respected by others and he liked it that way.

However, currently, our beacon of power and strength was curled in an armchair in his apartment, his knees tucked into his chest as he tapped furiously on his phone. His lips were pressed into a thin line and his cheeks were tinted the slightest bit pink as he read texts filled with cute emojis and teasing words. Daichi could imagine the nimble fingers replying to his texts, the small grin and chuckles and the wrinkle at the corner of bright eyes next to a distinct mole and--

"Sawamura-kun, are you alright?"

The sound of Oikawa's voice interrupting Daichi's thoughts made Daichi jump, fumbling with his phone as he looked up. He had forgotten that his roommates were in the living room with him. Oikawa was sitting on the floor watching a drama in the TV, leaning against the bottom of the couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table as he gave Daichi a curious look.

Kuroo, who was sitting on the couch, reading as he absentmindedly ran his fingers through the hair of a napping Bokuto on his lap, looked up from his book with a brow raised. "What's wrong with Sawamura?"

"I dunno, I just looked up and he was just sitting there looking like he really needed to take a dump," Oikawa shrugged.

Bokuto cracked open a sleepy eye to look at Daichi. "Don't poop on my chair."

Daichi was suddenly very aware of himself and he adjusted himself into as proper sitting position. "I'm not going to," Daichi attempted to deadpan despite the embarrassing burn off his ears.

"Oh, texting someone special?" Kuroo asked with a smirk, eying Daichi's phone.

"Oh, I, uh--" Daichi fumbled, finding himself weirdly conflicted between denying it and sighing with a dreamy "yeah." "I'm just talking to Suga," he finally said.

"Oh, Suga-chan," Oikawa hummed thoughtfully, looking back at the TV. "I haven't seen him since Spring Tournament."

"He's actually visiting for the weekend," Daichi said.

Bokuto looked up at Kuroo. "Weren't we trying to get his number at summer training camp?"

"Yeah, he wouldn't budge though," Kuroo sighed. "We should've known he was seeing someone--it was an impossible mission. We were so young—so inexperienced." Kuroo wiped away a fake nostalgic tear is if training camp didn’t happen barely half a year ago.

Daichi blinked in confusion at Kuroo's words. Suga was dating someone during summer training camp? How did he not know about this?

"Akaashi got it though," Bokuto said with a proud grin.

"Okay, but Akaashi's pretty--he could get anyone's number if he really wanted to," Kuroo scoffed.

"Wait," Daichi interrupted. "Who was Suga seeing during training camp?"

The smiles dropped from his roommates' faces as they all looked at him with wide eyes and raised brows. The room went dead silent and Daichi suddenly felt like he was missing something very important.

"Uh, _you_?" Oikawa finally answered after Daichi shifted uncomfortably in his seat for a good minute.

It takes a while for Daichi to register Oikawa's answer before his cheeks begin to feel the slightest bit warm. "What?"

"Wait, you guys _aren't_ dating?" Bokuto asked, sitting up so quickly that his head almost hits Kuroo's chin.

"How are you _not_ dating? You guys had so much sexual tension during training camp that I could cut through it with a knife," Kuroo said.

"W-we did not," Daichi stammered, his face growing redder. "I mean, I don't think Suga would feel that way about us."

"But do you?" Oikawa asked.

Daichi suddenly felt his throat go dry. "Uh," he answered.

"Oh ho?" Kuroo snickered.

"Stop that," Daichi glared at Kuroo.

"Oh ho ho?" Bokuto chimed in, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Stop."

"Sawamura-kun, I thought you were braver than that," Oikawa taunted. "Do you even know how to flirt with people?"

Daichi stared at Oikawa blankly, feeling embarrassed as Oikawa gives him an aghast look.

"How are you going to win over Suga-chan like this?" he said, sounding legitimately offended at Daichi's lack of romantic prowess. Oikawa shook his head. "You're lucky, that you have a connoisseur of romance like me here to help you, Sawamura-kun."

"What," Daichi deadpanned as Kuroo scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Wait, since when were _you_ the love-expert-guy?" Bokuto asked, sounding rather offended.

Oikawa looked at the two boys on the couch with a raised eyebrow. "Have you seen me?” Oikawa asked them, brushing his bangs out of his eyes with a swoop of his hand that was actually devilishly charming. “I have a fan club and a perfect boyfriend--who else in the apartment could possibly have more expertise in the art of romance and courting than me?"

Daichi squinted at Oikawa as Bokuto just looked at Oikawa with wide and curious eyes.

"That's great and all Oikawa," Kuroo began, checking his nails as if he were unimpressed, "but listen--you may have one boyfriend, but I have _three_." Kuroo smirked. "If anyone is an expert here, it's me."

"Hey, I have three boyfriends, too," Bokuto objected.

"Yeah, but, Bo, I'm smooth as fuck," Kuroo said, dramatically slicking back his black hair, which only flipped right back up.

"Look, guys, I don't need any help," Daichi said quickly as Oikawa opened his mouth to argue with Kuroo. He was feeling rather unsure of his roommates' wingmen abilities at the moment and really didn't want to test out his doubts with Suga. "I'm just waiting for the right moment—“

"For years?" Oikawa asked.

"I haven't found the right moment for years," Daichi said stubbornly. Oikawa, Bokuto, and Kuroo looked at him with a mix of pity and skepticism and the utter embarrassment that was building up was becoming too much for Daichi to bear. "Look, just—I can handle this alright?"

"Are you sure you don't want me to wingman for you?" Kuroo asked.

"Why are _you_ wingmanning—I’d be the best wingman there is," Oikawa argued, glaring at Kuroo.

"Oh ho? Is that a challenge I hear, Oikawa?"

"It would hardly be one, Kuroo-chan."

"Guys, no wingmanning," Daichi said firmly. "I mean it," he continued as Oikawa looked like he was going to object.

However, Oikawa only pursed his lips and turned back to the TV. "Whatever you say, Sawamura-kun," he hummed.

"Seriously," Daichi said, looking between Oikawa and Kuroo.

"Yeah, whatever, Sawamura," Kuroo said, looking back at his book as Bokuto resettled himself in the other boy's lap. “We have other things to worry about other than your tragic love life.”

Daichi looked between the two of them, feeling uneasy at how simply they had backed down. However, the conversation was over and he was a little more than terrified of pushing it. "Okay," he said slowly, getting up to head to his room.

As Daichi walks down the hallway he could faintly hear the following short exchange:

"Loser has to buy the winner’s lunch for a week?"

"Deal."

* * *

Daichi had gotten up a little earlier than usual this morning to pick up Suga from the train station, quietly hoping to avoid his roommates as he shaved and fixed his hair, putting on an outfit that he hoped said ‘casual but still handsome (and datable)’. He shuffled out of the apartment, wincing as he closed the door a bit too loudly, and walked to the parking lot and to his car. As soon as Daichi sat in the driver's seat, he heard the back doors open, the sound of shuffling, and the doors closing.

Daichi closed his eyes and gave a huge sigh, massaging the bridge of his nose. He looked into the rearview mirror to see Kuroo, Bokuto, and Oikawa squeezed into the back seat and smiling at him. "Why are you guys in my car?"

"Because we're going to help you pick up Suga-chan from the train station," Oikawa answered simply. Daichi didn't even want to ask if he meant it literally or figuratively.

"Plus, we want McDonald's," Kuroo added.

"I'm not your chauffeur," Daichi grumbled, starting the car anyway.

“Well, you’re the only one out of the four of us with a car, so you kind of are,” Kuroo said.

Daichi rolled his eyes, biting back a retort—it was way too early in the morning to be arguing about this. “Look, I'll get you guys food if you _promise_ not to meddle with me and Suga," Daichi said as he started to back up the car.

Oikawa hummed, leaning his cheek against the window and fishing his phone out of his pocket. "I didn't really want food anyway," he said.

"Yeah, I can wait until we get back," Kuroo said with a smirk.

Daichi shot them both a glare in the mirror. "Guys—“

"Suga-chan's train already arrived," Oikawa interrupted him nonchalantly.

"Wait, _what?_ "

"Yup, see--Suga-chan just texted me," Oikawa said, leaning forward to shove his phone into Daichi's face. "What would you do without me, Sawamura-kun?"

Daichi ducked out of the way. "I can't read that while I'm driving!"

"Why not? It only takes like five seconds," Oikawa said.

"That's dangerous!" Daichi said, his grip on the steering wheel tightening. "This is why I'm the only one in our apartment that can drive."

"I can drive!" Bokuto exclaimed, his hand shooting up so quickly that it hits the roof of Daichi's car with a loud thud.

"You have a motor scooter—that doesn't count," Daichi pointed out.

"I can drive," Oikawa muttered. "Just... not now."

"You got your license taken away—that’s like negative knowing how to drive," Kuroo snickered.

"Shut up, you don't even _know_ how to drive," Oikawa retorted, sticking out his tongue.

"Hey, I could learn if I wanted to," Kuroo said with a shrug. "But why would I do that if Sawamura could just drive me everywhere?"

"Didn't I just say I'm not your chauffeur?"

"I didn't say you were," Kuroo said. "You're more like a free taxi driver."

"Kuroo, I swear to god—“

"Sawamura-kun, you missed the exit," Oikawa hummed, tapping away on his phone.

" _Fucking shit."_

After maneuvering around the streets for a while, Daichi finally found himself at the train station parking lot, parking several times with Oikawa leaning out the window, telling him that his parking sucked. Daichi practically jumped out of the car with Kuroo, Bokuto, and Oikawa in tow behind him.

"Okay, why can't you guys just sit in the car?" Daichi glared at them.

"And let you embarrass yourself in front of Sugawara?" Kuroo scoffed. "Nah, we're going to look out for you."

Daichi rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to embarrass myself in front of—“

'Oh, isn't that Suga-chan?" Oikawa said, stopping in his tracks.

Daichi practically screeched to a stop as he followed Oikawa's gaze. Sure enough, leaning against the wall stood a very familiar boy with silver hair looking at down at his phone. It had been a while since Daichi had last seen Suga and he suddenly felt breathless, torn between playing it cool and running over to envelop Suga in a tight hug.

"Pick your jaw up off the ground, Sawamura," Kuroo said, snapping Daichi from his trance as he gave Daichi a small push forward.

Oikawa is already bounding over to Suga gleefully by the time Daichi started walking toward him. They seemed to be having a rather innocent conversation until Daichi watched Oikawa lean down to whisper something most likely devious into Suga’s ear, casting Daichi a mischievous glance. Suga’s widened and said something Daichi couldn’t hear to Oikawa and, by the time Daichi reached them, Suga’s face was buried in his hands as Oikawa laughed beside him.

When Daichi approached them, Suga looked up at him, his eyes bright and his lips open in a wide smile. His laughter was melodious to Daichi’s ear and, for a second, Daichi found himself at a loss for words.

“Daichi!” Suga greeted him enthusiastically, as Daichi was lost in his daze. Suga pulled back his arm and sent him a powerful blow to the chest that knocked the air out of Daichi. “I can’t believe you would be late,” Suga pouted, poking him in the arm as Daichi caught his breath. “What happened to Mister Punctual?”

“Sorry, I had some… distractions,” Daichi said, shooting an accusing glare to his roommates. Kuroo and Bokuto whistled innocently and Oikawa only batted his eyelashes at them.

Kuroo leaned over Daichi’s shoulder. “Yo, Sugawara, nice to see you again.”

“Oh, Nekoma’s ex-captain!” Suga whistled. “I haven’t seen you since the Spring Tournament—I see you’re still looking good.”

“You know it, Sugawara,” Kuroo said, giving Suga a gaudy wink. He draped his arm over Daichi’s shoulder and suddenly Daichi found a feeling of impending doom wash over him.

“What are you—“

“But you know who else is looking good?” Kuroo spoke over Daichi’s protests. Kuroo gave Daichi a hard pat on the chest. “My buddy, Sawamura—I mean, he is looking so good, wouldn’t you agree, Sugawara?”

Suga quirked an eyebrow at them, but giggled nonetheless. Daichi felt his ears burning as Suga gave Daichi an up-and-down look. “You know, Kuroo, I think I have to agree with you,” Suga said, smirking the slightest bit. “Daichi is just looking _so_ handsome today, isn’t he?”

Daichi was going to die. His face was burning and he wanted to sink into the ground—he was absolutely going to die.

“That’s right,” Kuroo agreed, patting Daichi’s chest again. “And he’s _single_ , can you believe it?”

“Oh my god,” Daichi whispered, as he threw Kuroo’s arm off of him. However, not to be deterred, Kuroo immediately grabbed Daichi’s arm.

“Have you seen his muscles, Sugawara? What a catch, amiright?” Kuroo said, wiggling his eyebrows at Suga, whose shoulders were shaking as he tried to conceal his laughter. “And his number is two-two—“

“We’ve been friends for years—he already has my number!” Daichi said, shoving Kuroo to the side, his cheeks burning as Suga began to laugh out loud. Behind him, Oikawa only crossed his arms with a triumphant look on his face, clapping slowly as Kuroo regained his balance. “Suga,” he began again, focusing on the boy in front of him. Daichi rubbed his neck. “It’s really, _really_ nice to see you again,” he said.

Suga’s smile goes from amused to absolutely warm and his eyes become soft. Daichi had always loved it when Suga looked so full of affection and caring. “I missed you, too, you big dork,” he said, giving Daichi a punch to the gut that was a bit lighter than he remembered—in fact, Daichi was pretty sure they used to knock the air out of him. Suga readjusted his grip on his duffle bag in his hands with a heavy huff.

“Do you need me to carry that for you?” Daichi offered, sticking his hand out.

“No, I—“ Suga grunted as he heaved the bag up again. Before he could object, Daichi held his hand out. Suga sighed, smiling as he finally handed the bag to Daichi, who carried it in one hand with ease.

“Look at you, all strong and gentlemanly,” Suga said, giving Daichi a much stronger punch to the arm that made him wince. “Woah, Kuroo, you were right! His biceps are even more impressive than I remember!” Suga observed, throwing a smile back at Kuroo.

A chill ran down Daichi’s spine as Suga’s fingers brush against his forearm and wrap around his wrist, dragging him forward as Suga jokingly insisted for Daichi to tell him all about his workout routine. Daichi avoided looking at his roommates, who were surely wiggling his eyebrows at him and making obscene gestures as they walked ahead towards the car.

“Don’t look at me like that, Oikawa,” Daichi heard Kuroo say with a huff. “I’m not done here yet.”

The ride back was horribly embarrassing, just as Daichi had dreaded. The entire time back, Kuroo kept trying to sell Daichi like some sort of hot sale item. He went on for ages about Daichi’s abs and remarkable traits and his good points in being ‘total boyfriend material’ while Daichi avoided looking at Suga, his face burning and his grip on the steering wheel tight.

“Plus, he could probably lift you in his arms when you get tired, you know?” Kuroo said. He was leaning over the shoulder of Daichi’s seat on the side closest to Suga while Oikawa hid his mouth behind his hand, practically shaking with laughter. Bokuto had begun to doze off. “He’d be like some sort of knight!”

“I guess you’re right, Kuroo,” Suga hummed with a pleasant smile. “You should tell me what that’s like when you guys start dating.”

Daichi screeched to a stop right in front of a stop light with such force that everyone in the car jerked forward. Oikawa was laughing so hard that he was clutching his stomach in pain and Bokuto was now fully awake, giving Kuroo a really hurt glance.

“No!” Daichi and Kuroo said at the same time towards Suga and Bokuto respectively.

“I’m not even interested in Kuroo—you’ve got this all wrong,” Daichi said quickly.

“Bo, you know I wouldn’t date other people without talking to you, Akaashi, and Kenma first,” Kuroo quickly reassured Bokuto.

“I mean, like sure he’s a good looking guy—“

“Thanks, Sawamura.”

“—but, I mean—he’s not my type or anything,” Daichi defended.

“Oh, so you have a type now?” Suga asked, shooting him a mischievous smile.

Daichi gulped as the light turned green. He continued driving again with Kuroo and Bokuto’s relationship talk and Oikawa’s laughing fit as background noise as he quietly mumbled, “Uh, yeah, sort of.”

Suga chuckled. “I’m sorry,” he said, looking not very sorry at all. “I was just joking around—I didn’t expect you guys to take me seriously.”

“Eh, no worries Sugawara,” Kuroo said with a shrug. He was now leaning against the backseat with an arm thrown around Bokuto, who was snoring against his shoulder. “You’ve gotta a pretty good sense of humor.”

“Thanks.”

“You know who else has a great sense of humor,” Kuroo continued. “My buddy here, Sawa—“

“Kuroo, if you don’t shut up right now I’m pulling over and kicking you out of the car,” Daichi interrupted him with a glare into the rearview mirror. He took pleasure in the way Kuroo instantly paled and made a little salute with his free hand.

“Message received, Captain.”

Once they had gotten back to their apartment and put down Suga’s stuff in Daichi’s bedroom, the silver-haired student whisked himself off to take a shower and Daichi plopped down in the living room with his roommates. As much as he wanted to glare at Kuroo, he couldn’t help but have a look of sheer confusion on his face as he watched Kuroo lie in Bokuto’s lap, texting cheerfully.

“How the hell did you land yourself in any relationship at all?” Daichi asked.

Kuroo shrugged. “I guess I just naturally attract people and you’re a lost cause.”

“Don’t be rude, Kuroo—he isn’t completely lost,” Oikawa said.

“Wow. Thanks,” Daichi said, rolling his eyes.

“Why don’t you just tell him how you feel?” Bokuto asked simply.

“I can’t just _tell_ him,” Daichi said, looking aghast.

“Yeah, don’t be ridiculous, Bokuto-kun,” Oikawa said while Kuroo gave Bokuto a shrug.

“Why not?” Bokuto asked.

“Well, because—“ Daichi began. However, he found himself at a loss as a reason failed to come to mind. “Well, I just can’t,” Daichi argued, crossing his arms stubbornly.

Oikawa clicked his tongue and gave Daichi’s leg a sympathetic pat. “Don’t worry, Sawamura-kun,” Oikawa said with a confident grin. “With Oikawa-san’s help, you’ll get Mr. Refreshing’s attention and affections in no time!”

Daichi buried his face in his hands and screamed internally.

* * *

Daichi was wary for the rest of the night as Suga joined the residents of apartment 314 for one of their infamous movie nights, in which they watched  _Bee Movie_ , much to Kuroo’s mixed horror and amusement. The entire time, Daichi kept glancing over to Oikawa as if he was going to embarrass Daichi at any minute. However, the night proceeded without incident and they wrapped up movie night with yawns all around as they each headed to bed at 2AM. Daichi sighed in relief as he got up from his spot on the couch.

“Hey, Sawamura-kun and Suga-chan,” Oikawa said in his little sing-song voice that signaled that he was up to no good. Daichi almost groaned, plopping back down on the couch next to a slightly confused Suga. “You know, I had these reservations for this really fancy restaurant nearby for me and Iwa-chan, but since Iwa-chan isn’t coming over, I _really_ wouldn’t want them to go to waste.”

Daichi shot Oikawa a glare that the brown-haired setter only smiled proudly at. Of course Oikawa would have something like this up his sleeve. “Which restaurant?” Daichi asked.

“’The Black Cat’,” Oikawa replied.

“Oh, that place’s good,” Kuroo said. “I had dinner there with Bokuto last week.”

Daichi already knew that. In fact, Bokuto and Kuroo wouldn’t shut up about it for three days after they ate there because apparently it was just that good.

“Oh, I’ve heard of that place,” Suga chimed in. “Apparently it has _really_ spicy food,” he said with a small tilt to his lips that made Daichi automatically feel nervous. The last time Suga had gotten excited about spicy food, Daichi couldn’t feel his tongue for three days afterward so really, the best choice of action here was to decline Oikawa’s offer.

However, when Daichi looked over at Suga, his eyes were just sparkling with excitement and he looked at Daichi with such pure eagerness that Daichi felt his heart melt right then and there.

So that was how Daichi and Suga found themselves at one of the best restaurants in town.

Damn that Oikawa and his connections.

“Woah, Daichi look at all the spicy stuff on the menu!” Suga pointed out excitedly, almost leaning out of his seat to show Daichi his findings. Suga was practically glowing with excitement and the sight of it made Daichi feel so warm that he couldn’t really be mad at Oikawa for too long.

“We have to try all of these,” Suga said very seriously.

“Who’s ‘we’?” Daichi scoffed.

“You and me,” Suga said. “C'mon, Daichi, don’t tell me you’re still a big baby about spicy stuff.”

“I’m not a baby, you just know no fear,” Daichi argued, taking a sip of water.

“Hm, no, I’m pretty sure you’re a baby,” Suga concluded, shooting Daichi a cheeky grin. Daichi pouted and Suga burst out into fits of giggles. “See? Baby.”

“Whatever, old man,” Daichi teased back, laughing when Suga’s offended retort was interrupted by the waiter who came by to take their order.

Of course, Suga ordered the spiciest thing on the menu and made Daichi promise to take at least one bite.

“So,” Suga began as the waiter left, “you seem to be getting along with your housemates.”

“Ugh, yeah,” Daichi said wrinkling his nose, unable to keep the smallest of smiles from crawling onto his face for the shortest of seconds. “They’re alright.”

“I heard you guys have some fun movie nights,” Suga commented with a sly grin that made a chill run down Daichi’s spine.

Daichi squinted as Suga pulled out his phone, humming a pleasant tune. “What did Oikawa tell you?” he asked.

“Oh, he didn’t tell me _too_ much,” Suga hummed playfully, making Daichi all the more suspicious. “I mean, he only told me that you got into an argument with Kuroo about which _High School Musical_ movie was the best.”

Daichi sighed, thankful that Oikawa hadn’t said anything too bad. “Listen, _High School Musical 3_ is a cinematic masterpiece beyond its time,” Daichi said, adopting a mock serious time.

“Please,” Suga said, rolling his eyes. “Nothing will compare to the brilliance and spirit of the second movie.”

“I don’t think we can be friends anymore.”

Suga covered his mouth as he laughed, the corner of his eyes wrinkling and his snorts barely muffled by his hand.

“You’re snorting again,” Daichi pointed out with a cheeky grin.

“No, I’m not,” Suga said, snorting.

“Yeah, you are!”

“Daichi, you’re being mean!” Suga said, trying his best to frown through his laughter.

Daichi had missed this—hanging out with Suga, joking around with him. He had missed listening to Suga’s laugh and watch the way he smiled and how he laughed into his hand like he was embarrassed. He really was in _so_ deep.

Daichi gulped. It was the perfect moment. There were no interruptions, he could do this. He leaned forward on his elbows and took a deep breath. He looked up at Suga, who had settled down a bit. Suga tilted his head when he looked at him, a wide smile still on his lips and his eyes twinkling. It was now or never.

“Hey, Suga—“

“Excuse me! Best roommate ever coming th— _move_ it!”

Suga tore his eyes away from Daichi’s to look for the source of the interruption and Daichi closed his eyes, praying to whatever god of luck that had forsaken him to forgive him for whatever the fuck he did to land him with his current roommates. Something was placed gently onto the table of Daichi and Suga’s dining table and Daichi opened his eyes to see a set of romantic candles and Oikawa beaming at him. Daichi wanted to scream.

“Why?” Daichi said instead. People began to stare at them and out of the corner of his eye; Daichi could see Suga looking very embarrassed.

“You’ll thank me later,” Oikawa answered with a gaudy smirk as he pulled out a microphone from nowhere, leaving Daichi with the feeling that he would absolutely not thank Oikawa later. Oikawa turned towards Bokuto, who was holding what looked like a glittery yellow recorder. “Hit it, Bokuto-kun.”

Bokuto gave Oikawa a thumbs up and took a dramatically deep breath before blowing into the recorder. A high-pitched, horrible noise filled the restaurant and people began to complain before Oikawa walked over to yank the recorder out of Bokuto’s hand.

“You said you could play an instrument!”

Bokuto frowned, looking horribly offended. “I’m a recorder extraordinaire—how dare y—“

“Okay, plan B,” Oikawa turned to Kuroo, who had a boom box raised over his shoulder like a cool teen from a low-budget 2006 film. “Kuroo-chan, if you’d please.”

Kuroo gave him a grin and pressed a button the boom box. A cheesy romantic tune began to play from the speakers and Oikawa held the microphone to his lips. Just as he opened his mouth to begin his serenade, the music made an abrupt change to a familiar song that made Oikawa drop his microphone and Suga burst into giggles.

“Kuroo, you promised you wouldn’t turn this into a meme!” Oikawa fumed. “This is sabotage!”

“Listen, you gave me a perfect opportunity to rickroll you—I wasn’t going to miss it.”

Kuroo and Oikawa argued in front of their dining table much to Daichi’s irritation and Suga’s embarrassment. Their poor waiter had finally come out with their food and was looking rather troubled while they set their food on the table.

“Um, could we get some take-out boxes and the check,” Daichi asked. The waiter nodded fervently and hurried off.

After they had gathered their belongings and ditched Daichi’s roommates at the restaurant, Daichi and Suga found themselves walking side-by-side on a peaceful sidewalk, the back of their hands brushing every once in a while. The feeling of sheer embarrassment had finally faded and was replaced with Daichi’s sheepishness and Suga’s laughter.

“Daichi, stop apologizing,” Suga scolded, nudging him with his shoulder. “It was funny.”

“It made a scene,” Daichi groaned.

“Well, yeah, but at least we got out of there before things got _too_ embarrassing,” Suga smiled. Daichi almost stopped on the spot when he was suddenly hit with the realization of just how beautiful Suga looked in the moonlight. “What was that about anyway?”

“Who knows?” Daichi said, looking away, grateful that it was dark enough for him to blush without worrying about Suga seeing it. Their hands brushed against each other again and it took every fiber in Daichi’s being not to intertwine them.

“We take the right over there, right?” Suga asked, pointing at the corner.

“Yeah, we’re almost back,” Daichi said. Hopefully Oikawa, Kuroo, and Bokuto hadn’t returned yet and they could just enjoy a quiet movie together before Daichi was due to destroy his roommates.

“Oh, by the way,” Suga began as they turned the corner, Daichi’s apartment complex coming into view, “what were you about to say earlier?”

“Earlier?” Daichi asked.

“Yeah, just before we were so rudely interrupted by Oikawa,” Suga said.

It took Daichi a moment before he realized just what Suga was talking about. He pressed his lips together and his heart thumped loudly in his chest. “Oh, uh—“ Daichi swallowed thickly.

“Oh, we’re here,” Suga said softly as they arrived at the building. “Sorry, what was that?”

“I, uh,” Daichi stammered as Suga turned to look at him. He hoped that his face didn’t look as warm as it felt. “I just wanted to tell you, uh—“ Oh, god, what if Suga rejected him? He can’t do this. Daichi reached forward and pretended to pluck something out of Suga’s hair. “You, uh, had a leaf in your hair.”

Suga looked stunned for a minute and Daichi could see the slightest tint of pink on his cheeks. Daichi felt his heart sink when he thought he saw something akin to disappointment flash across Suga’s face. Shit, he fucked up _so badly_.

Suga reached out to slap his arm. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Suga pouted, adopting his playful expression once more. “I could’ve been walking around all day with that and looked like a fool!”

“Sorry!” Daichi rubbed his arm, laughing at Suga’s pout. “Don’t worry, even with the leaf, you looked as cute as always.”

When Daichi realized what he said, he almost wanted to take it back, but he found himself at a loss for words when Suga only frowned at him.

“You’re mean, sometimes, Daichi,” he said with a sigh. Daichi wanted to ask him what he meant when Suga nudged him. “Let’s go inside—I’m freezing.”

Daichi and Suga made their way up to the apartment in silence and shuffled in, setting their dinners on the coffee table.

“Do you want to watch something while we eat?” Daichi asked.

“Sure, if you want to,” Suga said with a shrug.

Daichi frowned. “Is everything okay?”

Suga looked at Daichi quietly for a second before giving him a smile. “Of course! You worry too much, Daichi.”

Daichi frowned, but didn’t push it, randomly choosing a horrible romantic comedy for them as they ate. They watched the movie mostly in stiff silence and, after finishing his food, Suga had nodded off, leaning his head just an inch away from Daichi’s shoulder, resting his face in a cushion.

Daichi sighed, rubbing his forehead. Why couldn’t being in love with your best friend be easy? Maybe Oikawa was right—Daichi was a romantic failure.

The front door swung open so loudly that Daichi almost jumped, panicking as Suga began to stir in his sleep.

“Look, Oikawa,” Kuroo said as he walked through the door, carrying the remains of what looked like a smashed boom box and a broken microphone in his arms as Bokuto loudly sipped a McDonald’s soda next to him. “All I’m saying is—“

“Hey,” Daichi whispered urgently, shooting them a glare and putting a finger to his lips, pointing at Suga.

Kuroo snapped his mouth shut and Bokuto stopped sipping his drink. Oikawa rushed over to Daichi eagerly.

“So, Sawamura,” he whispered, beaming. “Were my wingmanning skills great or what?”

“I never want to talk to you again,” Daichi said with a straight face.

“Oh, c’mon, Sawamura-kun—“ Oikawa pouted. “You guys left without us though. Did you at least have a romantic night out on the town or something? Did sparks fly? Please tell me you at least got _somewhere_!”

“We’re not talking about this right now,” Daichi said, standing up so quickly that he almost hits Oikawa on his way up. He marches towards his bedroom with a stubborn roommate in tow.

“Oh, come _on!_ ” Oikawa complained. “Look, Sawamura-kun, I’m your friend and as your friend I’m telling you honestly that if I have to sit in the same room as you and Suga-chan making eyes at each other for another second I’m going to scream.”

“We’re not making—“

“Yes, you are,” Oikawa said. Just as Daichi opened his mouth to argue, Oikawa put his hand up, taking a deep breath. “I’m fine,” Oikawa said heavily.

“Are you sure?” Daichi asked.

“Oikawa’s never really fine,” Kuroo said, popping in as Daichi gathered a blanket in his arms. “But he is right—Sawamura, your time is running out. Just go for it.”

Daichi glared at both of them stubbornly, pushing his way past them to get back to the living room, where Bokuto was leaning over the back of the couch and Suga was still sound asleep. Daichi draped the blanket over Suga, who huddled under it with a content sigh. Bokuto coughed to get Daichi’s attention and, only then, did Daichi realize he was smiling.

“I know I’m not as smooth as Tetsu and Oikawa,” Bokuto said, his voice unusually soft. “I still want to give you advice, though.”

Daichi sat down softly on the couch, leaning his head back so that he was facing Bokuto. “You might as well,” he grumbled.

Bokuto repositioned his arms on the couch, resting his head against them. “You should just go for it.”

Silence fell between them for a second before Daichi raised an eyebrow. “Wait, is that it?” When Bokuto nodded eagerly in reply Daichi only groaned.

“No! Really! I mean it,” Bokuto insisted, raising his voice a bit. Daichi pressed an urgent finger to his lips and Bokuto lowered his voice again. “Did I ever tell you about how I confessed to Akaashi?”

“No?”

“Oh, well, I did it right after I peed,” Bokuto said, no hint of shame or embarrassment in his voice or expression as Daichi gave him a weird look. “I mean, we were in the public restroom—“

“I don’t really want to know,” Daichi winced.

“I mean, okay, but the point is I didn’t _plan_ for anything—I don’t even _know_ how to plan for a perfect moment or whatever,” Bokuto pressed on earnestly. “You really just have to _go_ for it!”

“And what if Suga doesn’t like me back?” Daichi asked in a soft tone that sounded much more forlorn than he had intended. He looked away from Bokuto and down at his knees, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

Bokuto hummed thoughtfully. “I guess you can deal with that if it happens?” he said, shrugging.

Daichi looked back up at Bokuto, meeting his wide eyes with a firm glare before dissolving into silent chuckles that left Bokuto looking confused. “You’re too impulsive, you know?” Daichi said through his laughter.

Bokuto gave him a wide, proud grin. “How else do you think I ended up with three boyfriends?”

* * *

Daichi had fallen asleep on the couch next to Suga, having felt guilty for leaving him out there all on his own, but too embarrassed to carry him to bed. He woke up to Suga’s blanket draped over him and Suga leaning on his shoulder, speaking amiably to Oikawa at ten in the morning about Oikawa’s beauty routine. Daichi was reluctant to open his eyes, relishing in the scent of Suga’s hair and his warmth, but Suga was leaving this morning and, no matter what, Daichi had wanted to spend as much time with his best friend as possible.

Daichi made the two of them breakfast while Suga packed the last of his belongings, ignoring the complaints of a whining Oikawa, who insisted that Daichi make breakfast for him as well. He only gave in when Bokuto and Kuroo walked out of their room, looking disheveled and exhausted and not like people who should be navigating a kitchen. Suga called him adorably domestic and complimented his cooking while his roommates snuck him sneaky glances from behind Suga’s back.

Their morning was casual and, honestly, very fun, but Daichi couldn’t help but feel like there was a space between him and Suga that had suddenly become more prominent than before. All he wanted to do was cross the distance and simply intertwine their fingers, maybe even just brush their shoulders together for a brief second. Anything would do really, as long as it wasn’t the slight tension that they had now.

Daichi and Suga found themselves waiting in front of Daichi’s apartment complex for Suga’s taxi, sitting on a bench with their hands to themselves and a horrible silence falling over them as each of them searched for something to say.

“Hey, Daichi—“

“Suga, I—“

The both of them stopped themselves and Daichi scratched the back of his neck while Suga played bashfully with his thumbs.

“You can go first,” Daichi insisted.

“Oh, well, um,” Suga shifted his legs. “I just wanted to say, uh, thanks for letting me stay over… I had a lot of fun.”

“Oh, uh,” Daichi looked at his knees. “No problem,” he answered awkwardly.

Silence fell over them once again before Suga nudged Daichi with his elbow. “Your turn.”

“What?”

“You were going to say something, right?” Suga reminded him.

“Oh, uh,” Daichi felt warmth crawl over his cheeks. “I-It’s not really important.”

Suga pouted at him and knocked their knees together. “Oh, c’mon, Daichi—what was it?”

“It’s nothing!” Daichi insisted pushing Suga’s knee away. Suga inched closer and Daichi looked away, hoping that his face wasn’t as red as it felt.

“ _Daichi—_ “

“It was nothing!” Daichi said. It doesn’t occur to him that he was a bit harsher than he had intended until Suga reeled back a bit. The space between them had returned and Daichi felt more frustrated than ever. “S-sorry,” Daichi apologized quickly. “It’s just… not important.”

Suga frowned, scooting back a little further. “Okay,” he said simply, looking down at his own knees.

Daichi immediately felt his stomach twist when Suga inched away from him. He was just being frustrated about his own incompetence—he didn’t have to take it out on Suga.

Daichi turned to Suga to begin his apology when Suga’s own lips parted.

“Hey, Daichi?” Suga looked up at him, his lips turned into a frown and his eyebrows knit together. “Did I do something to make you mad?”

Daichi blinked at him for a moment, distracted for only the slightest moment, by how cute Suga looked when he was worried. “Wait, what?”

“Are you mad at me?” Suga asked again

“No, of course not!” Daichi reassured him quickly. “Why would you think that?”

“Well, I mean, you’ve been acting kind of odd all weekend and I mean I had a really good time and all,” Suga shifted uneasily, playing with thumbs and casting Daichi nervous glances. “It’s just… I figured I might have done something to make you uncomfortable or…”

Guilt gnawed at Daichi as he watched Suga ramble on, his voice wavering to the point where Daichi hardly understood what he was apologizing for. “Suga, you’re my best friend,” Daichi reassured him. Suga went silent at that, his shoulders going stiff. “Trust me,” Daichi continued, “there’s nothing you could do to make me not want to be around you.”

“I wonder about that,” Suga said softly, slouching a bit. He let out a sigh and then sat up straight again, the forlorn look on his face replaced with a grin. “I guess I can be wrong about things sometimes, huh, Daichi?” Suga said, folding his hands between his knees.

“It had to happen at some point,” Daichi joked with a laugh that came out a bit more uneasy than he thought.

“It’s too bad,” Suga pouted, “I liked being right all the time.” When Daichi scoffed, Suga punched him in the arm. “I’m right most of the time!”

“Whatever makes you feel better,” Daichi hummed playfully as Suga punched him in the arm softly again. “What are you doing?”

“Fighting you,” Suga said, pouting. “You’re cruel sometimes, even if you don’t know it.”

“S-sorry.”

Suga shook his head. “There’s nothing for you to apologize for. I can’t _really_ blame you for being kind of dense,” Suga teased him with a small smile.

Daichi gulped. “Actually, Suga,” he began. Suga looked up at him and Daichi’s words were caught in his throat. Perhaps this wasn’t the right time. He had always imagined the moment he told Suga how he felt to be more romantic and, well, happy. As if that would win him more brownie points with Suga. “I, uh—“

As Daichi was floundering with his words, Suga’s taxi pulled up to the apartment and Suga broke eye contact. Daichi didn’t even realize he had been holding his breath.

“Oh, that’s my ride I think,” Suga said, turning back to Daichi, looking unsure. “What was it that you wanted to say?”

Daichi looked away. “No, it’s fine. I’ll just… I’ll text you,” he said.

It was silent and, even though Daichi wasn’t looking, he knew that Suga had probably looked upset. Disappointed, even. He had been sort of disappointed with Daichi all weekend, actually.

“Okay,” Suga said quietly, getting to his feet. Daichi looked up as Suga was gathering his bags. “I guess I’ll see you around.” Suga gave him another smile that made Daichi’s heart ache.

This time Suga’s smile seemed to lose its radiance. The weight in Daichi’s chest only felt heavier at the impermanence of Suga’s parting words. Was this how he really wanted it to end? With awkward tension and unspoken confessions?

“Wait,” Daichi got up to his feet, grabbing Suga’s wrist before he could leave.

“What?” Suga asked, on edge and impatient. Daichi couldn’t really blame him.

“Okay, this is for real this time,” Daichi muttered, mostly to himself. “Suga,’ he took a deep breath. “I really like you. As in, I _really really_ like you. And I have for a long time now—since our first year of high school, actually, which is kind of weird I know—but I never got to say it because I wasn’t really sure if you felt the same way? But the point is I like you _a lot_ and you’re really pretty and my best friend, but I really want to kiss you—oh shit, I didn’t mean to say that out—please stop laughing at me.”

Daichi felt his face grow warm as Suga began dissolving into fits of giggles. He hadn’t really meant to go on a huge rant—he just wanted to give a simple confession. Daichi dragged a hand down his face and groaned. Congratulations on looking like a total loser, Sawamura Daichi.

“O-oh my gosh, sorry,” Suga said, covering his mouth in a failed attempt to stop his laughter. “I’m not laughing at you—I mean, I sort of am because you _are_ sort of a dork.”

“Thanks.”

“B-but you’re a cute dork! And, honestly, we’re both dorks for not doing anything sooner,” Suga said. He moved his hand and Daichi could see his smile, wide and radiant once again. The corners of Suga’s eyes were wrinkling and his cheeks were dusted pink.

Honestly, Daichi could have died right then and there and he would have been okay with it.

“The point is,” Suga continued, “I like you, too. I _really_ like you. And I also think you’re cute.” Suga flashed him a cute smile and Daichi’s eyes went wide. When Daichi didn’t respond for several seconds Suga tilted his head. “Daichi?”

“Sorry, I’m just—“ Daichi blinked. “I didn’t think I’d get this far—I’m not sure what to do.”

“Well, you could kiss me?” Suga suggested, sliding their fingers together, peering up at Daichi through his eyelashes.

 _Oh my god._ Daichi could feel his face absolutely burning. “K-kiss you?” he stammered

“ _Just do it!_ ” Oikawa shouted in the distance, before being hushed by Bokuto and Kuroo. (Daichi refused to turn around and decided to yell at them later.)

Daichi leaned in slowly, pressing his lips to Suga’s. Suga leaned in, their lips gliding against each other smoothly. Suga’s lips were soft and even better than Daichi had imagined. Daichi reached up to thread his fingers in Suga’s silver locks. Daichi’s heart was about to beat right out of his chest and, when he pulled back, he found himself in a sort of daze.

“I’ll see you later, Daichi,” Suga said, waving shyly before running off to his taxi.

Daichi touched his own lips gingerly, watching in disbelief as the taxi drove away and rounded the corner. “I kissed Sugawara Koushi,” he said to himself quietly. “Holy shit.”

“I’m proud of you, Sawamura,” Kuroo said, coming from out of nowhere to give Daichi a hard pat on the shoulder. The moment wore off and Daichi glared at Kuroo, who automatically looked guilty. “Well, hey, at least I wasn’t as bad as Oikawa, right?”

“Listen, my plan would have been _foolproof_ if _someone_ could play an actual instrument—“ Oikawa said, looking accusingly at Bokuto.

“Bokuto helped more than both of you combined,” Daichi snorted, smiling as Bokuto broke out into a wide grin. Despite the apparent debate about who was the best wingman, his roommates were all smiling at him, looking genuinely happy for him and, well, Daichi had always been sort of a pushover. “Let’s go get pizza tonight,” Daichi said. “It’s on me.”

Oikawa and Bokuto cheered and Kuroo wrapped an arm around Daichi’s shoulder. “I always knew you were a softie inside, Sawamura.”

“Okay, no pizza for you.”

“I should have seen that coming.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *extends leg* talk to me about captains on [tumblr](http://parasolghost.tumblr.com/) or [twitter](https://twitter.com/flamencodaiya)


	3. Cleanup in Aisle 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our favorite ex-captains go grocery shopping together. It's a bad idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *strums a guitar a year later* hey guys i've been writing this chapter on and off for the course of a year lmao
> 
> honestly, i can't even promise another chapter because i've been slowly fading out of hq, but i might??? write one more chapter for the bokukuroakakens. no promises tho
> 
> thanks to those of u still following and who waited patiently!! and to those of u who waited not so patiently, well, thanks for ur enthusiasm and i hope this wait was worth it
> 
> i hope u guys like these shenanigans

Kuroo didn't know how it was possible. He had always figured that, considering how much he and his housemates ate, they would all at least have the sense to keep the fridge stocked. Yet, here he was, tummy growling at nine on a Saturday morning as he stared into a fridge that smelled faintly of old cheese and was mostly empty aside from what looked like expired milk, a single slice of ham on a plate, and... Uh...

Actually, what was that?

Kuroo squinted at the unidentifiable object, leaning closer and holding his breath. He wasn't sure if it was a vegetable or a piece of meat or if it were green or purple in color, but it smelled like someone took a long shit in a bowl and left it in the fridge. Kuroo reached into the fridge to take it out when suddenly, the object pulled away from the sides of the bowl.

Kuroo let out a high-pitched scream that made Bokuto jump in his seat on the living room, spilling his breakfast of cereal and rotten milk on the couch, and Oikawa, who was just about to go out on his morning jog, whipped his head around so quickly that he hit it on an open closet door with a loud thud. Sawamura ran out of his bedroom, still dressed in his ugly bathrobe, the circles under his eyes are dark and he looked a bit too tired for someone who had slept for almost eleven hours. Nevertheless, Sawamura swung a wooden baseball bat around wildly, almost knocking over Oikawa's potted cactus.

"What's wrong what happened?" Sawamura asked.

"Careful, Sawamura-kun!" Oikawa warned, crossing the distance from the door to the kitchen with wide steps. He lifted the cactus and cradled it in his arms protectively. "You could've hurt Iwa-chan 2."

Kuroo ignored Oikawa's weird protectiveness over his plant boyfriend and just pointed at the substance on the fridge, which had started clinging to the sides of the bowl again. "What the fuck is that?"

Sawamura peeked into the fridge, relaxing his bat. "That's... uh," Sawamura squinted, setting the end of his bat down as he leaned in closer, only to immediately be repelled by the smell. "God, what the _fuck_ is that?" he asked, turning towards Bokuto, who had joined them in the kitchen.

Bokuto threw his hands up and backed away. "It's not mine—I don't even recognize that bowl."

"Oh," Oikawa bit his lip as he set Iwa-chan the Potted Cactus a safe distance away from his housemates. "Actually, I think that's my curry."

"That's _curry?”_ Sawamura asked with raised eyebrows.

"How the hell is that curry?" Kuroo asked. "It _moved_ —that’s a sentient being."

"Don't be ridiculous, Kuroo-chan," Oikawa scoffed as he reached into the fridge. "It wouldn't— _holy shit!_ ” Oikawa pulled back so quickly, letting out a high pitched squeal as he almost elbowed Kuroo in the gut. His eyes were wide with terror. "It fucking moved!"

"I told you! There’s no way in hell that's curry!"

"It's zombie curry now," Bokuto said, nodding his head solemnly.

"Whatever it is—Oikawa get rid of it," Sawamura said, only to look absolutely exasperated when Oikawa shook his head adamantly. "What now?"

"There is _no_ way I'm touching that," Oikawa said. "What if it eats me? I’m too pretty to be eaten by zombie curry!"

"Then it will have been a small sacrifice to pay for our fridge," Kuroo answered. Bokuto and Sawamura nodded in agreement and Oikawa glared at all of them.

"I hate you guys."

"Here, I'll do it, since you're being such a baby about it," Bokuto said, not even flinching when the substance moved away from his hand.

Kuroo felt genuine worry as Bokuto pulled the bowl out of the fridge. "Bo, are you sure you're gonna be okay?" he asked, pinching his nose closed as the stench of the curry filled the room.

"Yeah, no worries Tetsu—I got this," Bokuto said with a wide and confident smile.

 Kuroo's heart fluttered a bit and he couldn't help but smile as he put a hand over his heart dramatically. "My hero," Kuroo said with a nasally voice.

"He's just cleaning out the fridge—is this really the time?" Sawamura asked, his voice muffled by his hand.

Bokuto gave Sawamura an incredulous gaze. "It's always time to impress the bae," he answered simply.

"God, Bokuto just get rid of it!" Oikawa said, plugging his nose.

"Alright, alright," Bokuto said, heading out the door to rid the apartment of the putrid odor.

"Okay," Kuroo began, lowering his hand as he turned to his remaining roommates. "Why is there nothing in the fridge?"

"Has anyone been to the store recently?" Sawamura asked.

"I couldn't—too busy," Oikawa shrugged.

"Store's too far and I can't drive," Kuroo explained. “And I don’t trust Bokuto with groceries—he keeps excessively buying Pringles.”

“I never want to see another can of Pringles again,” Oikawa shuddered.

Sawamura ran a hand through his hair, sighing. Suddenly Kuroo felt really bad for interrupting his sleep.

“Maybe we should all go?” Kuroo offered. “We all do eat the food after all, so that would probably be fair.”

Just as Kuroo finished his sentence, Bokuto popped in from the hallway, looking absoluteltmy thrilled.

“You mean like a road trip?” he asked eagerly as he closed the front door.

“I mean exactly like a road trip,” Kuroo said, smiling at Bokuto’s wide grin.

“If you guys aren’t busy we could go right now,” Sawamura said, stretching his arms to wake himself up some more.

“I was going to go jogging, but I suppose I could put it off,” Oikawa said with a shrug.

“I mean I was just going to watch a drama with Kuroo today so,” Bokuto said.

Sawamura stretched and yawned. “Alright,” he said. “Just let me get changed and we can head out.”

Kuroo and Bokuto high-fived, chanting “Road trip! Road trip! Road trip!”

“The store is only a five minute drive away,” Oikawa pointed out with a frown.

“Yeah, but it’s more fun if you think of it as a road trip,” Kuroo explained as Bokuto nodded eagerly beside him. Five minutes later, they had all piled in Sawamura’s with Kuroo sitting in the front seat, fiddling with the radio while Oikawa, who was too slow in calling shotgun, pouted in the back with Bokuto, who had already started rolling down the window.

“Okay, so if we’re going to do this, we need to lay down some ground rules,” Sawamura began, only for the entire car to groan. Sawamura turned around in his seat, giving everyone a stern glare. “I’m _serious_ —we really don’t need to be banned from our nearest grocery store.”

“You’re being ridiculous, Sawamura,” Kuroo said, smiling. “We won’t get _banned_ —“

“Maybe, like, ‘forcibly removed’,” Oikawa mumbled, not loud enough for Sawamura to hear.

“Don’t smile at me like that—it makes me think you’re going to do something terrible,” Sawamura said, starting the car.

Kuroo frowned—he couldn’t help the fact that his regular smile made him look like he was about to straight up eat ass. Talk about rude.

One loud five minute drive later, the four of them found themselves standing in front of the grocery store, their innocent eyes sparkling with excitement and their hearts soaring with hope at the aspect of being able to eat real food for once instead of the endless supply of instant noodles that Bokuto had moved in with.

"I'm going to buy so many Pringles," Bokuto said in a soft voice.

"No, you're not," Sawamura said. "Can someone grab a cart?"

"I got it," Kuroo walked over, pushing the cart towards them.

Bokuto bounded over to Kuroo with a skip in his step and his lips split in a wide grin. Bokuto placed his hands on the side of the cart before swinging his legs over the sides.

"Bo, what are you doing?" Kuroo asked.

Bokuto looked up at him with wide, pure eyes, one of his feet in the cart while the other stood on its toes as if Bokuto was about to hurl himself in at any moment. "Cart rides," he replied simply, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Why do _you_ get to ride in the cart?" Oikawa argued, marching over to them. "What if _I_ want to ride in the cart?"

"You guys are both adults—neither of you should be riding in the cart," Sawamura said, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his fingers. Oikawa and Bokuto made booing noises at him and Sawamura growled when Oikawa crumpled up the shopping list and threw it at him.

"Settle down children," Kuroo said, resisting the urge to laugh as Oikawa and Bokuto turned towards him with childish disappointment. "Why don't you guys both ride in the cart?"

Oikawa raised an eyebrow. “Listen, I’m sure ‘sharing is caring’ seems like a great solution for this right now, but we’re both 185 cm grown adult men—“ (“Debatable,” Sawamura muttered under his breath as he straightened out the shopping list.) “—there’s no way we can both fit in this shopping cart.”

Kuroo scoffed, waving his hand dismissively. “Please, sharing is for losers—“

“You should never have kids,” Sawamura said.

“—I was going to suggest splitting up,” Kuroo said, ignoring Sawamura. “Me with Bo and Oikawa with Sawamura—we can make it a competition.”

After spending so much time with his roommates, Kuroo found that there were several keywords that can really grab their attention. For Bokuto, those words were “owl,” “Akaashi,” “Kenma,” and the phrase “You’re the best.” For Sawamura, they were “ramen” and “toupee” (Kuroo had discovered this word entirely on accident and Sawamura looked so intensely horrified at its mention—this phenomenon was never explained). For Oikawa, “Iwa-chan,” “genius,” and “Aliens don’t exist.” Kuroo was sure he had some keywords of his own, but one word that grabbed all of them in particular was “competition.”

Kuroo couldn’t help but smirk when his roommates looked at him with rapt attention. They were all captains, after all—none of them could ever back down from a challenge. “We’ll split the shopping list and whoever finishes paying for everything first wins.”

“Hm, that’s way too easy,” Oikawa complained, despite the fact that he was already starting to climb in another free cart.

“Sounds like the final words of someone who’s going eat to our dust,” Bokuto said with his arms crossed over his chest and his grin wide. “Right, Tetsu?”

“Right you are, Kou,” Kuroo agreed, laughing at Oikawa’s offended expression.

“Well, me and Sawamura-kun are the perfect dream team,” Oikawa argued. “Isn’t that right, Sawamura-kun?”

Sawamura sighed. “I guess,” he replied halfheartedly.

“Work with me here, Sawamura,” Oikawa said, not looking back at Sawamura as he slipped on a pair of large, bug-eyed sunglasses. He hugged his knees to his chest, looking very ridiculous as he put on his most serious expression. “It’s go time.”

Kuroo stifled his laughter as he beckoned Sawamura and Oikawa over to them. “Come on, line up at the starting line, everyone,” he said as Bokuto sat himself in the cart, his hands gripping the sides excitedly. Sawamura pushed Oikawa over bregrudgingly. Well now, that attitude just won’t do, would it? “You ready to eat our dust, Sawamura?” Kuroo asked as Sawamura pulled up to them.

Sawamura scoffed at Kuroo, drumming his fingers on the cart handle. “This is a child’s game,” he said.

“Oh, that sounds like the words of someone who’s going to get their ass whooped,” Kuroo teased.

Sawamura physically tensed up. “Please, this is hardly going to be a competition for us—how are you going to push Bokuto with those tiny arms.”

Kuroo put his hand over his chest in mock offense. “Listen, we can’t all be Mister Beef.”

“Let’s go, let’s go!” Bokuto called, leaning forward in his seat.

“Alright, on your marks!” Oikawa called.

Kuroo tightened his grip on the cart and got into his running position. Despite his apparent exasperation, Sawamura adopted an expression of total intensity. His brows were furrowed and his grip on the cart was tight. Kuroo smirked, so that’s how it was.

“Get set…”

Bokuto was bouncing in his cart and Oikawa was gripping his cart tightly.

“Go!” Oikawa called.

Sawamura and Oikawa took off, leaving a trail of imaginary racing dust in their wake as the automatic doors opened for them. Kuroo pushed with all his might, putting all his weight into the cart, only for it not to move at all.

“Tetsu!” Bokuto called, bouncing forward in a cart that refused to budge. “Push harder!”

“I’m trying!” Kuroo said, putting his back into it. Even with all of his strength he could hardly get the cart to budge a single centimeter—and, not to brag or anything, but Kuroo was pretty ripped, so this was a shock. “You’re too heavy!”

“It’s muscle mass, okay?” Bokuto said defensively. “I’m not that heavy!”

“Hold on,” Kuroo said. He stepped back from the cart and stepped on the wheel. “Bo, is this cart broken?”

Bokuto leaned over the side of the cart to look at the wheels. He bounced in the cart, trying to get it to move forward. The cart squeaked and creaked, but didn’t move. “Fuck!” Bokuto swore, jumping out of the cart and pulling forward another, smiling as the wheels moved as directed. He hopped into the cart and pointed forward. “C’mon, Tetsu, we don’t have any time to waste!”

“Alright, alright!” Kuroo said as he pulled the cart towards him, getting behind it and pushing it with much more ease. He resisted the urge to still insist that Bokuto was heavy as he watched his boyfriend point forward, the most excited smile on his face. Honestly, Bokuto’s smile was contagious.

“Charge, Tetsu!” he commanded and Kuroo grinned, running past the automatic doors.

“No running!” an irritated clerk yelled at them.

“Charge, but slowly,” Bokuto amended.

They walked further into the store passing the produce section when they passed Sawamura and Oikawa's cart. Oikawa was surrounded by fruit and had his legs thrown over the sides and had, in the five minutes since he had entered the store, thrown on his most sparkly pair of sunglasses.

“What’s the matter losers?” Oikawa said throwing up his hands. “Had a—“

“Hey Oikawa, do we want organic romaine lettuce or the regular one?” Sawamura asked, holding up a bag of lettuce.

Oikawa took off his sunglasses to glare at Sawamura. “Sawamura-kun, I was in the middle of a sick burn!” he scolded. When Sawamura only gave Oikawa a deadpanned look, the setter simply crossed his arms and pouted. “The organic one—what are you, some sort of barbarian?” Oikawa said, in a much smaller voice.

Kuroo smirked as he leaned over, pushing the cart with his forearms at a leisurely pace. Bokuto was leaning back, looking at the shopping list with great focus. “So, what’s first?”

“Pringles—“

“No.”

“Aw, c’mon!” Bokuto whined. “I love Pringles!”

“No, way—don’t look at me with those big eyes,” Kuroo continued to scold. Sure enough, Bokuto was leaning his head back, his eyes brimming with alligator tears and his lips pulled into a pout, quivering ridiculously. Honestly, he looked incredibly silly, but Kuroo found that all the more adorable. “No,” he said, a little less firmly than before. Bokuto’s lip jutted out more and Kuroo finally let out a deep sigh, running his hand through his hair. “Fi—“

“Yay! Thank you, Tetsu!” Bokuto said before he could finish his sentence. He leapt out of the cart and ran off, leaving Kuroo to watch him as he took off down the aisle. Kuroo considered leaving him for a split second when he saw Bokuto sprinting back, arms full of Pringles containers.

“ _No_.” Kuroo said.

“But you just said—“

“You can have one,” Kuroo said, crossing his arms. As much as he loved indulging Bokuto, Akaashi would kill him if he spoiled Bokuto too much.

Bokuto frowned, but gingerly placed one can of pizza Pringles in the cart before turning around to mournfully put the Pringles back.

“Hold on,” Kuroo called. Bokuto turned around and Kuroo plucked a can from his arms. “This ones for me.”

Bokuto immediately lit up and Kuroo smiled. He was such a sucker.

“This is why you’re the best,” Bokuto said enthusiastically, laying a small kiss on Kuroo’s cheek.

Kuroo just batted his hand at Bokuto. “Aw, stop it,” he said with affected bashful flattery. Bokuto hopped off to go put away the rest of the junk food and Kuroo took a look at the shopping list while he was gone, leaning coolly on the shopping cart with one elbow and one ankle tucked behind the other.

It was a relatively normal shopping list, of course, as they were normal college students. There was probably more junk food on there than a normal family shopping list would permit (courtesy of both Kuroo and Bokuto), but of course, university volleyball players needed a healthy and balanced diet, so there was plenty of vegetables and stuff (courtesy of the ever so health-conscious Oikawa), and of course, meat (they weren’t the beefiest roommates in the complex for nothing). Kuroo hummed as he glanced over the list. Bananas, cereal, milk (2% not that weak fat free shit), eggs (a dozen and a half of them apparently), sugar, flour, yogurt, goat milk butter…

Well… okay… Mostly normal, but hey, he and Oikawa don’t have perfect complexions for nothing. The goat milk was necessary.

“Kuroo! They’re almost done!” Bokuto shouted at him at the top of his voice, people in the grocery store looked over at the boy rushing down the aisles with raised eyebrows.

Kuroo winced, slightly embarrassed, but he was never one to succumb to that kind of stuff. “Well, then hurry—“

Just as Kuroo shifted to get going, his elbow slipped on the cart handle and Kuroo suddenly found himself hurtling face first towards the tile of the store floor. The moment moved in slow motion as he watched the cart running down the aisle, his life flashing before his eyes. Kuroo noticed that he spent a lot of time playing volleyball and wondered if he should get another hobby. Like knitting. Kenma, Akaashi, and Bokuto would look great in matching sweaters. A nice thing to consider in your final moments, honestly.

However, before Kuroo hit the ground, a pair of strong arms catching him and Kuroo opened his eyes just as he heard their shopping cart crashed loudly into the pyramid of cans at the end of the aisle. Kuroo looked up at Bokuto in awe as a can rolled by them.

“You saved me,” Kuroo said in a hushed whisper, his arms around Bokuto’s neck.

“I did,” Bokuto said simply. Well, not as romantic as Kuroo had in mind, but it’ll do.

“You’re so heroic and cool,” Kuroo said, patting Bokuto’s cheek. Bokuto lit up immediately an Kuroo chuckled as he stood back up. “Now let’s get back to—“

“ _Kuroo! Bokuto!”_ Sawamura’s voice came from the end of the aisle.

“Fuck, run,” Kuroo said, but before Bokuto and Kuroo could make a break for it, Sawamura had gained on them and grabbed hold of their collars.

“What the hell did you guys just do?” Sawamura snarled at him.

“You’ll never get us to talk, Sawamura!” Kuroo declared, trying to pry Sawamura’s fingers from his shirt.

“Kuroo did it!” Bokuto said immediately and Kuroo frowned.

“You know, Kou, I thought we had something going on. Like trust.”

“There’s no such thing as trust when Sawamura’s about to kill us,” Bokuto said his eyes wide with fear.

Sawamura yanked the both of them back. “I swear, if you guys can’t—“

Before Sawamura could even get far into his lecture, they heard angry shouting come from behind them. When they turned around, they saw a very angry store manager approaching him. Kuroo could practically see the steam coming out from his ears. Bokuto gulped audibly.

“D-do you think if we apologize, we won’t get kicked out of the store?” Bokuto asked weakly.

“I mean, what’s the worst that could happen—it was totally an accident,” Kuroo said with a nervous chuckle. “What’s he gonna do? Ban us from the store?”

* * *

Kuroo, Bokuto, and Sawamura all sat in Sawamura’s car with blank stares, the silence so stiff that someone could cut It with a knife.

“I can’t believe he banned us from the store,” Kuroo finally said.

“I hate you guys,” Sawamura muttered.

“No, you don’t,” Bokuto said.

“Somehow, that’s true,” Sawamura sighed reluctantly. He set his forehead on the top of his steering wheel. “I can’t believe I got banned with you guys. I didn’t even do anything.”

“Honestly, I’m surprised Oikawa didn’t get banned,” Kuroo said, slouching in his seat. “That slippery bastard.”

As if on cue, they could see Oikawa approaching the car, big sparkly sunglasses on and grocery bags dangling from his arms. They all glared at him through the windshield and Oikawa just blew them a kiss before moving to put everything in the trunk.

When Oikawa was done, he slid into the front seat and propped his sunglasses up on his head, his smile smug as Sawamura silently started up the car.

Oikawa let out a loud dramatic sigh that made Kuroo want to hit him over the head.

“Honestly, what will I _do_ with you boys?” he said as Sawamura began driving out of the parking lot. “I cannot _believe_ you guys got kicked out of the store.”

“You’re the worst,” Kuroo muttered bitterly.

Oikawa waved away Kuroo’s comment and turned to Sawamura. “And _you_ of all people, Sawamura-kun,” Oikawa let out another world-weary sigh and Kuroo could practically see the veins popping out of Sawamura’s head.

“Honestly,” Oikawa turned his whole body to face thiem, “you  should all be more well-behaved.” Oikawa bobbed his head forward and his sunglasses side down to his face as he smirked. “Like me.”

“Did you at least get me Pringles?” Bokuto asked innocently.

“No,” Oikawa said, sliding his sunglasses back up.

“You _are_ the worst,” Bokuto said with a frown.

“So Oikawa’s in charge of grocery shopping from now on for being a jerk,” Sawamura mandated.

“Seconded,” Kuroo said, raising his hand.

“Honestly, worth it.”


End file.
